Various cameras may be connected to a network and used as surveillance cameras. For example, surveillance cameras have been implemented in areas such as homes, offices, banks, casinos, airports and convenience stores. Sometimes, surveillance cameras may be monitored, that is, a person may be assigned to watch images captured by the surveillance cameras in real time as the images are captured by the cameras. Also, images from surveillance cameras may be recorded in long term storage media (e.g., video tapes). Typically, there is no event worth monitoring and/or recording. As a result, resources (e.g., human, video tapes) are often wasted.
Recently, some cameras have been equipped with motion sensors thereby enabling the cameras to capture images when triggered by motion. However, normal movement by any object in the view of motion sensor may trigger the camera. Thus, the motion sensor technology does not completely solve the deficiency of wasted resources. There is a need for activating (e.g., starting) a surveillance camera and monitoring the images from the surveillance camera only when an emergency occurs.